[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6572968,"mediaKeyId","3127337-956c32ba31ab9f97650e5394bf211186","parentId",3127337,"title","Judiciary Committee moves dozens of bills toward the floor, places several on consent calendar","audioSeconds",4908,"startMs",2130000,"endMs",7038000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3127337-956c32ba31ab9f97650e5394bf211186&start=2130&end=7038","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3127337-956c32ba31ab9f97650e5394bf211186/thumbnail_2130000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6572968/Connecticut/Judiciary-Committee-moves-dozens-of-bills-toward-the-floor-places-several-on-consent-calendar","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6572968-2f42cdcc84da8b9a66bad367bc906ddb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157301&Signature=hnZ0-WYA7762~aT0BC56ilic943qHYQms9gfGC7F4dhhvMX98xqAMgaZTak-e19w18H9goz~p3aj343xXMgGiua3wSzmlW6lEGCYdAOE~bRn4TF-FQIQYAEZPFI7EPdYFd3Q6mEe90EZ7464B4L48~~~bS8-Be8ULJqdIK-o6f5m-YLTHUCTSiIM5126jYTnfbCNxe8a5DozdB9X3cVghbPd2Q-qSCibgwA30AiL3nSuOkyHSVbbqnY88W5lcdYGWHAdXeKZybmlRfl5zRrQ~7rrzrd10dNfdbOcATFQjBIkxY~mMf9B9hLJ2zcF52JX9tsexXZmci~dshvsAdL7hQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Connecticut State Legislature - Judiciary","date","2025-04-25T20:07:47.69Z","article","The Judiciary Committee on April 25 considered a broad set of referred bills and moved many of them toward the House or Senate floor, including several items placed on a consent calendar for expedited consideration.

Chairman Senator Winfield led the committee through a series of substitute bills that touched on consumer protection, worker protections, environmental rules, product safety, data and synthetic media, real-estate transactions, airport laser safety, cannabis/hemp/tobacco enforcement and digital-currency seizure procedures. The committee's review repeatedly focused on the committee's formal cognizance: criminal penalties, civil fines, court procedures and enforcement provisions.

Key actions and discussion highlights

- Consumer protection and safety (Substitute for S.B. 3): Senator Winfield summarized that the bill would give the attorney general authority to enforce violations on the state's behalf; the committee moved the bill toward the floor (motion recorded). Representative Fishbein asked the clerk to call the roll; the bill proceeded to a roll-call vote in committee.

- Protections for workers (Substitute for S.B. 8): The bill addresses workplace quotas, anti-retaliation and civil penalties tied to enforcement; the committee limited debate to sections within Judiciary cognizance (notably sections 1'8) and moved the bill toward the floor after discussion on civil penalties.

- Environment and pesticides (Substitute for S.B. 9) and dioxane limits (Substitute for S.B. 884): Members discussed neonicotinoids and 1,4-dioxane limits in household and cosmetic products. Several members said the environmental sections were out of the Judiciary Committee's ordinary subject matter but recognized the bill contained civil penalties and enforcement provisions that fall within the committee's remit. Substitute S.B. 884 drew questions about the initial and subsequent fine amounts and whether agencies would provide curative warnings before maximum fines were assessed; the sponsor and other members said enforcement language and penalty discretion would be addressed as the bill moved forward.

- Data, consumer protection omnibus bills (S.B. 1356, S.B. 1357, S.B. 1359, S.B. 1357 series): Several consumer-protection bills were marked to go to the floor; leadership offered and adopted friendly or technical amendments in committee (one amendment to S.B. 1235 was adopted as a friendly amendment before placement on the consent calendar).

- Artificial intelligence and deceptive synthetic media (Substitute for H.B. 6846): The committee considered language intended to address deceptive synthetic media and election-related misuse; sponsors described the measure as a continuing work in progress. The bill was moved toward the floor.

- Cannabis, hemp and tobacco enforcement (Substitute for H.B. 7181): Committee leaders said the JFS language bifurcated penalties so that sale of cannabis to a minor remained a felony while sale of paraphernalia would be reduced to a misdemeanor; the amended substitute removed certain cigar-mailing language and clarified enforcement mechanisms.

- Seizure and forfeiture of virtual currency (Substitute for H.B. 6990): Sponsors described this as work with state police and prosecutors to create tools for seizures and forfeiture of digital wallets and virtual assets; the committee moved the substitute toward the floor and later placed it on the consent calendar.

Consent calendar and procedural notes

Representative Fishbein moved several items to a consent calendar; several motions passed without objection and the clerk called a single roll for the consent calendar. The clerk announced the committee would keep some roll-call votes open until 3:30 p.m. and then proceeded through remaining items. Committee members frequently reminded one another that debate in Judiciary should be limited to subjects within the committee's cognizance (criminal penalties, enforcement and court procedure).

Why it matters: The committee advanced multiple measures that include criminal penalties, civil fines and enforcement mechanisms; many actions were procedural (placement on consent calendar, referral to the floor) but a few items (penalty tiers, restitution caps, and the treatment of paraphernalia and synthetic products) will likely require additional negotiation before final passage.

Ending: The committee completed its business for the day, ordered many bills to the floor or to the consent calendar, and left several votes open to be closed later in the day.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Judiciary Committee Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","The committee considered a long list of bills across consumer protection, labor, environment, data and public-safety topics; several were amended, some were placed on a consent calendar and others were held for further work. The committee repeatedly limited debate to sections within the committee's cognizance.","taxTitle","Judiciary, House of Representatives, Committees, Legislative, Connecticut","taxId",15631,"location","Connecticut","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6572973,"Judiciary Committee debates racial- and gender‑balance law during two Pardons and Paroles nominations; roll calls held open",1971,187000,2158000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3127337-956c32ba31ab9f97650e5394bf211186&start=187&end=2158","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3127337-956c32ba31ab9f97650e5394bf211186/thumbnail_187000.jpg","/articles/6572973/Connecticut/Judiciary-Committee-debates-racial-and-genderbalance-law-during-two-Pardons-and-Paroles-nominations-roll-calls-held-open","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6572973-4dc985fce21637d62375f14c6473c3fa/orig.mp4?Expires=1771157301&Signature=GcHt90WVWKn8YM0uDZ96ERtNjRr3A2mvdPY4nvzeZW0KNCl188WB9B3UqIBivzTCvP-eo1W7b~ed1Xc~rzwWr8NZF37FDgl9waiseU77FzEFbzmessnNGR-97WP86WfYo9-u2t4qFYmFmvxNHk4DD5I5vdMB~-VNgIo0ljI8IRxV8R37BlYx4mGL2ngQbQm7Et7rWGw0vpoEW1RF~g-uQj2MVTVIh4uyGiQ-VQ0N10nS5tbJbD7Nohp8JUvRqZT88t98Zc78HW1M0yFGoqoDYJx-nO1t~m5jEnwkImm8m6wWW-~NqLIAaAXONNHvDfYvN-Yj5tmNZDP3qF7qSNfn8A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Judiciary Committee on April 25 took up two nominations to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and spent considerable time debating a statutory requirement that the governor's appointments reflect the state's racial and gender demographics.

Committee Chairman Senator Winfield introduced the nominations and opened the floor for discussion before the committee held roll-call votes on both candidates. Representative Fishbein raised the statutory issue at length, citing the state constitution's allocation of pardon powers (\"Article Fourth, Section 10\") and a statutory provision he identified as \"4-9(b)\" that, he said, requires the governor's appointments to \"closely reflect the gender and racial diversity of the state according to the most recent United States census population data.\" Fishbein said the statute was inserted after the 2008 Cheshire home invasion public act and argued the committee must consider compliance with that law when voting.

Fishbein and other members discussed the current composition of the board as presented by staff: two Black females, one Hispanic female, one Hispanic male, two Caucasian females and two Caucasian males. Fishbein said that, with the two nominees pending, the governor's slate would add white appointees and leave the board without any Black males. He said he intended to vote against the nominees on statutory grounds. Representative Kissel and several other members defended the nominees' qualifications and said the committee's duty is to evaluate the individuals before it.

The committee conducted roll-call votes on both nominations. For Aileen (Aileen/Eileen) Keys of Farmington, a motion for a favorable report was made by Senator Winfield and seconded by Senator Kissel; for Alex Sarkov of Hartford, the motion was moved by Senator Kissel and seconded by Representative Stashman. The transcript records multiple members answering individually during the roll calls and the chair announced that \"we will hold the votes open till, I guess, at this point, at 03:30\" so final tallies were not announced in the committee transcript excerpt.

Why it matters: The discussion touched on the limits of the governor's appointment power, a post-2008 statutory requirement intended to match board demographics to the state census, and the question of whether the current nominees and the governor's overall slate meet that requirement. The committee did not record a final outcome in the transcript provided; the clerk left the roll-call votes open for a later close.

Committee action and next steps: The Judiciary Committee recorded the roll-call votes for both nominees and left the votes open until 3:30 p.m., per the clerk's announcement. Members expressed differing views: some said they would vote in favor based on qualifications; others said they would oppose because the appointments do not comply with the statutory diversity requirement as they interpret it. The committee did not adopt any amendment or take other formal action affecting the statute on the floor during this session.

Quote: \"So it would be inappropriate for this body to approve the nominees given the makeup. We are bound by the law,\" Representative Fishbein said during debate, drawing attention to the diversity provision he cited.

Ending: The committee recorded the roll-call votes and left them open until the clerk closed voting later in the day. Any final confirmation or rejection of the two nominees was not reported in the transcript excerpt.","The Judiciary Committee heard two nominations to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and debated whether the governor's picks comply with a statute requiring board composition to reflect state census demographics. The committee conducted roll-call votes but left them open until 3:30 p.m.","actionData","errors"]

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Judiciary Committee moves dozens of bills toward the floor, places several on consent calendar

Judiciary Committee debates racial- and gender‑balance law during two Pardons and Paroles nominations; roll calls held open